World’s first wireless auto gear-changing bike revealed + video

Here we go, only thign they didnt do was link it to a powermeter so the DS could set the required power for every climb and allow the bike to change gears to produce/maintain it.

Rider...just pedal and steer (maybe brake when needed though we may override it if youre a wuss).

Ah now we have it ..... the start of what we thought was a long way off.
This technology will move towards automatic gear changing relating to power output and heart rate.

Link this to hud glasses that give you a up front display & you may be able to change gear just by looking ?

It's a brave new cycling world we find our selves in.

Hmm... wouldn't trust it on a hill climb where my cadence is *ahem* 'less than predictable'.

Can also see some techno smartyboots standing in the crowd on the Tourmalet, hacking the wireless security and beaming random gear-change commands to anyone with a wireless shifter. Actually, that could spice things up a bit...

Sorry Andy Schleck had to laugh and laugh... Love the comments about you, just so funny and but true... No presents from Alberto this year...

The wireless part has already been done - the Mavic Mektronic system from the 1990s was wireless. And had a reputation for unreliability, as a quick Google will attest.

Wireless gear changing is not technically challenging. It's an upper-year undergrad engineering project, if that. The reason it hasn't been done yet in commercial products is simply that if you don't run wires to the front and rear derailleurs, they need their own batteries, as does each brifter. What's the bigger hassle - having a couple of wires, or having four batteries on your bike?

As for automatic shifting, won't work for race bikes. How would you like an automatic shift happening in the middle of a sprint - or, alternatively, being stuck in a too-low gear in that sprint?

If something like the NuVinci CVT ever becomes mainstream (perhaps for commuter or touring bikes), automatic ratio adjustment might be useful in that situation.

What we really need is to get rid of the chain and cassette and have a direct shaft driven powertrain with CVT (continuous variable transmition) as comes on many new vehicles.

...sorry, what was all that blathering about an iPad app? I was distracted by the fact that a firm this smart couldn't find the front wheel block

...and I'm sure I remember riding a utility bike over a decade ago that had fully automatic gears. The local DH lads spent ages trying to fry it by torquing the bejesus out of it from a standing start.

I want to get a shot of this and find some one to test it on, just to have find, lowest gear, watch them struggle, then whip it into the highest and see them fall all over the place

....and to think that thought moving to indexed gears on downtube shifters was a step to far (TBH still think it was, but good news on ergo levers).

Then again if it helps get a few extra bums on saddles and people looking into improving & talking about cycle technology , that's good news

(Takes deep breath) All of the "advances" in gearing technology seem to be about making what is essentially a crash gearbox work better. Is no research taking place into alternatives to chain drive and cog swapping, or do UCI regulations mean that any such research would be money down the drain?

Bet Shimano with their deep pockets already have wireless shifting sorted. Just a question on which year to launch 2016? Keeps future bike buying ticking a long nicely.

Could be a good way for Lance to win his next Tour: hack the opponent's wireless connection and send a signal to make his chain come off when the climb starts!

could be good linked up to training videos. They could use a gradient map to change gear and simulate going up hill and descending. Just need a bluetooth powered fan to go with it.

Wow Cambridge Consultants! I used to work for them over 40 years ago. They were quite innovative back then and were developing an anti skid braking system for cars. They had one of the back wheels of the director's E-type jag jacked up with the wheel off and various bits attached to the wheel hub. Someone jumped in the car, started up, stuck it in gear and accelerated to spin up the wheel, forgetting that the car had a limited slip diff. The car shot forward and crashed into the wall just in front of it, landing on all the test gear in the process. Oops.

Glad to see they are still going strong and just as innovative.

"It can ... automatically shift down gears when the rider brakes hard."

Which is only any use if it can also detect that the rider's gently pedalling, otherise it's going to be hauling the mechs way off from where the chain is.

It all seems fine as a technical proof of concept, but surely the only real use of this - with a derailleur system at least - is to avoid having to use wires with normal manual shifters.

Does anyone actually think automatic derailleur shifting is a good idea, or am I just overly sceptical?

A lot of bells and whistles of anticipating gear changes etc. just seem like fancy gimmicks to me - but the principal of wireless gear-changing is sound and I suspect it will become mainstream before too long.

Wouldn't fancy doing my world tour with wireless changers, mind, and for the average utility cyclist it doesn't solve any problems that a hub gear and belt drive wouldn't do many times better - but for serious roadies I reckon this will do very well.

Even better, if someone else (ie DS) could remotely operate it, Andy Schleck might have a chance of winning another Tour.
'just pedal, lad. Leave the gear changes to me, you ham-fisted buffoon'.